Continuous sheet and tin-plate furnace



Sept. 8. 1925. 1,553,172

' J. J. JONES CONTINUOUS SHEET AND 'l'IN PLATE FURNACE Filed Oct. 18, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 L/JfiA Ea. INVENTQR ATTORN EY Sept. 8, 1925.

J. J. JONES CONTINUOUS SHEET AND TIN PLATE FURNACE Filed Oct. 18, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mar-Z JJI/ozvs.

XNVENTOR ATTORN EY J. J. JONES Sept. 8, I925.

CONTINUOUS SHEET AND '1 IN PLATE FURNACE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct,

JJJb/M'a.

, ATTORNEY Sept. s, 1925.

J. J. JONES CONTINUOUS SHEET AND TIN PLATE FURNACE '4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 18, 1924 ewe INVENTOR ATTORNEY line 6-6 of Fig. ,5;

Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

JOHN J. Jones, or ELLWOOD CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

commuons sHEE'r AND TIN-PLATE FURNACE.

Application filed October 18, 1924. Serial No. 744,450.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, J oHNJ J ones, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ellwood City, in the county of Lawrence and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Continuous Sheet and Tin- Plate Furnaces, of which the following is a specification. v

This invention relates to furnaces for the treatment of steel and other metals during rolling thereof, and more particularly to what I term a continuous sheet and tin plate furnace.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide ;a furnace of simple and eflicient construction and operation which will act to heatthe packs of plates or sheets after they have been passed through the rolls and doubler, the operation of the furnace being continuous so as to-eliminate any delay or lost motion in the rolling operation. A further object is to provide a. furnace of this character which will quickly heat the packs during travel of the same through the furnace, the packs being. heated uniformly throughout so as to facilitate-the rolling operation and produce sheets of uniform gauge and grade'eliminating waste due to improper rolling of the sheets. A further object is to provide a furnace which, after one run is completed, can be used to heat billets to be rolled for a succeeding run, thus ensuring continuous operation of the rolls. Further objects will appear from the detail descrip tion.

In the drawings Y Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the furnace;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the furnace;

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on line 33 of F ig. 1;

Fig, 5 is a section taken line 4-4 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a section taken line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a section takensubstantially on substantially on substantially on Fig. -7 is a section taken substantially on line L? of Fig. 4.;

Fig. 8 is a front view of one of-the trays and associated parts of the furnace conveyor;

Fig. 9 is a side view of one-of the trays and associated parts of the furnace con- Fig. 10 is a fragmentary horizontal section of a modified form of furnace;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the rear portion of the furnace showing the billet conveyor or chute in position;

Fig. 12 is a side view of the billet conveyor;

Fig. 13 is .a top plan view of the front portion of the furnace showing the means for controlling the operation of the return conveyor;

Fig. 14 is a side view of the front portion of the furnace partly broken away;

Fig. 15 is a planview of one of the conveyor trays.

In constructing the furnace I provide an elongated casing 1 of approximately rectangular cross-section, this casing being constructed of any suitable refractory material, Top wall 2 of easing l is inclined upwardly and inwardly of the casing and a stack 3 communicates with the interior of the furnace at the upper end of wall 2, a baffle 4 dependingfrom the rearward end of top wall 2 so as to cause the products of combustion from the fire chambers to pass into the stack. -The rearward end of easing 2 is closed by a hood-5 provided with an opening -6, normally closed by a swinging door 6*, through which the packs are discharged onto an inclined chute 7 of slatted construction which discharges onto a stand or table 8 from which the packs are removed by an operator and passed into the rolls. The chute and stand are well known in this art and need not be illustrated and described in detail.

The forward end of casing 1 is closed by a v 10 on which is secured a receiving fork 11 whichincludes an upper\ member 12 and a lower member 13 which are disposed in spaced parallel relation and are rigidly secured'together, the lower member being composed of a plurality of parallel bars which are spaced apart to receive between them upwardly projecting fingers 14 of carrier trays 15 which are alsov of gratelike construction, each tray consisting of a plurality of parallel bars connected by a base 16.

Each tray is provided with a depending stem 17 having adjacent its lower end a transverse arm 18 on each end of which is rotatably mounted an anti-friction roller 19. The lower end of stem 17 is secured to 7 a sprocket chain 20 which passes about sprocket wheels 21 secured on shafts 22 and 22 rotatably mounted in the furnace adjacent the ends thereof, shaft 22 being ex- .tended through one side of the furnace and being driven at a predetermined speed by a motor, (not shown) or in any other suitable or preferred manner. Arms 18 of stems 17 of the trays operate in channel 23 provided in a guide plate 24 of refractory material secured in casing l and position ed beneath flanges 25 which project inwardly from the side walls of the casing, the inner edges of 1 these=flanges being spaced apart and plate 24 being provided with vertically extending slots which accommodate stems 17 of the carriage. This provides simple and efficient means for supporting the upper run of the conveyor and this supporting means serves to divide the interior of casing 1 into an upper compartment 26 and a lower compartment 27 which extends substan- .tially the full length of the interior of the casing and are in communication with each other. As will be noted more clearly from Fig. 5, flanges and plate 24 are disposed at an upward inclination toward the rear 25 of the casing being approximately parallel member 13 in alignment with apron 29 by 0 arm 31 which is secured to bar 10. The packsmeans of a counter weight 30 secured on an i of plates, as they are discharged from the doubler, are placed on a stand or table 32 of known construction by an operator from which they are removed by a return conveyor 33 of known construction from which the. packs are discharged onto the receiving apron 29 and thence into the receiving fork. The weight of the packs tilts the receiving fork downwardly so as to bring member 13 0 thereof into substantial parallelism with the adjacent tray of the'conveyor and, during travel of the conveyor, fingers 14 contact with the pack and remove it from the fork which is returned to receiving position by counter weight .30. The bars of chute 7 project through opening 6 into the furnace and are so positioned as to engage between the bars of the conveyor tray so as to remove therefrom the pack asthetray reaches the end of its travel toward the rear of the furnace, the pack sliding downthe chute 7 onto table 8 from which it is removed and placed in the rolls by an operator. The tray r then travels forwardly of the furnace until it reaches the receiving fork from which it removes another pack of sheets and conveys chamber 36, an ash pit 37 being provided beneath the grate, suitable doors 38 being provided to give access to the combustion chamber and the ash pit. The combustion chambers 36 of the fire chambers 34 have direct communication with upper compartment 26 of the interior of the casing by means of suitable openings 39 provided through the side walls of easing 1 for that purpose. The products of combustion flow directly from the fire chambers into compartment 26 and through this compartment to the stack 3. To prevent the products of combustion from escaping from the front of the furnace through hood 9' I provide a bafiie 4* which depends from the forward end of top wall 2. In this way the packs carried by the trays of the conveyor aresubjected to high temperature during travel thereof through the furnace so as to be uniformly heated to the proper temperature for rolling before being discharged from these trays onto the table 8. This provides a furnace of continuous operation in which the packs are heated uniformly and any \material loss of heat is eliminated since the furnace is closed at both ends and the greater portion of the products of combustion are caused to flow through the upper compartment of the furnace casing. After the furnace has been in operation for a short time the whole. interior thereof is raised to a high temperature so that the trays ofthe conveyor traveling on the lower run thereof do not cool to any appreciable extent thus conserving time and avoiding sudden cooling of'the packs, which ensures uniform heating and temper of the packs thus facilitating rolling thereof and avoiding waste. As the end of a run is approached, billets to be rolled are fed onto the receiving fork 11, these billets being deposited by the fork onto the trays of the conveyor. They are heated to a sufficiently high temperature for the preliminary rolling, being returned to the furnace from the folder by means of the return conveyor in the form of packs in the manner previously described. When passing the billets through the fur-- nace for heating the same the speed of operation of the conveyor may be cut down or reduced so as to ensure thorough heating of the billets to the proper temperature, if desired, though this is not ordinarily necessary as the interior of the furnace will be heated to a high temperature by the heat when the end of the first run is reached so that the billets which travel through the furnace ,after the first run will be heated to proper plurality of rollers 41 upon which the billet receiving position.

travels'downwardly of the chute. The chute is supported at an inclination by means of a wheel-mounted stand 42 secured thereto and is provided at its upper end with an angularly disposed portion 43. Thebillet chute is placed in position with the upper end of frame 40 adjacent opening 6 so that billets discharged through'this opening on the chute 7 will be deflected by the angularly disposed portion 43 onto the rollers 41 and will travel downwardly thereof so as to be discharged at a point convenient to the first rolls into which the billets are fed by an operator. The rollers 41 are of flanged construction, being provided at each end with a flange, as illustrated, and the frame 40 is of suflicientwidth to ensure that the billets will not slide off of the sides of the billet chute.-

To ensure accuracy in operation of the furnace I provide means whereby the return conveyor will be thrown out of operation as'the receiving fork is tilted into position to place a pack upon one of the trays of the furnace conveyor, the return conveyor being thrown into operation again as soon as the receiving fork is returned to For this purpose the drive shaft 44 of return conveyor 33 is rotated by an electric motor 45 of suitable type supported upon a platform 46 secured on top of one of the fire chambers 34. A suitable switch 46 is connected into the circuit of this motor, the particular switch, illus-- trated being a single throw single pole knife blade switch of known construction the blade 47 of which is connected by a link 48 to an arm 49 secured on shaft 10. When receiving fork 11 is turned into position to place a pack upon a tray of the furnace conveyor arm 49 is moved in such direction as to move blade 47 into open position, as indicated in Fig. 14, breaking the circuit of motor 45 and stopping the return conveyor 33. Upon return of receiving fork 11 to receiving position blade 47 of the switch is moved into operative position closing the circult of the motor and again throwing the return conveyor into operation so that another pack of sheets is discharged into the receiving fork and deposited thereby on a tray of the furnace conveyor. v This operation is automatic and continuous during operation of the furnace and effectually eliminates all possibility of more than one pack of sheets at a time being fed into the receiving fork and possibly. causing jamming thereof resulting in throwing the furnace out of operation. In this respect the automatic control of the return conveyor for the packs of sheets is of importance as ensuring continuous and accurate operation of .the furnace so as to obtain maximum productionand eliminate wasted time which is, of course, of prime importance in rolling. operations.

The casing 1 is preferably provided with suitable observation openings 1 which are normally covered by suitable closure members or doors 50; In the modified form illustrated in Fig 10 a fire chamber 39 is provided at each side of casing 1*, this chamber being provided with a bridge wall 51 in front of and adjacent grate 52. Beyond bridge wall 51 chamber 39 is provided through its front wall and its back wall with an opening 53, these openings being disposed in align- I ment and of sufficient size to accommodate billets supported on rails 54 extending across chamber 39 in advance of bridge wall 51. A suitable pusher 55 is slida-bly mounted in suitable supports 56 at the side of easing 1", this pusher being provided with a head 57 for contact with billets to be pushed along the rails 54. In practice, billets to be heatedare placed on the rails 54 at the lefthand end thereof as considered in Fig. 10 and are then pushed alongthese rails toward the other end thereof so as to be positioned in front of bridge wall 51, these billets being placed upon therailsso as to be heated during the completion of a run and while the packs are passing through the furnace 1 After the run has been completed the billets which-have been preheated are forced along the rails 54'so as to be discharged therefrom and are then fed onto the trays of the furnace conveyor at the front thereof, these billets being discharged from the conveyor in the manner previously described. This billet heating means is intended for use in connection with a short furnace, that is, a furnace in which the casing 1 is comparatively short so that the billets would not possibly be heated to a sufliciently high temperature during travel through the furnace without being first preheated to about the temperature desired. In using a long furnace such as that illustrated in the other figures of the drawings and previously described, this preheatingof the billets is not necessary as the billets remain within the furnace casing clude all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims, in this ap plication in which the preferred forms only of my invention are disclosed.

\Vhat I claim is 1. In a furnace of the character described, an elongated casing inclined from one end toward its other end, heat generating means at the lower end of the casing and communicating therewith, a conveyor traveling in the casing from the lower toward the upper end thereof, and means for receiving articles discharged from said conveyor.

2. In a furnace of the character described, an elongated casing having its top wall inclined from one end, a fire chamber at the lower end of the casing and communicating therewith, a stack communicating with the casing at the upper end thereof, and a conveyor traveling in the casing from the fire chamber toward said stack.

3. In a furnace of the character described, an elongated casing having its top wall in clined from one end, heat generating means at one end of the casing and communicating therewith, and means for supporting and guiding the upper run of the conveyor, said supporting means dividing the interior of the easing into an upper compartment and a lower compartment extending approximately the full length of the casing, said compartments communicating with each other.

4. In a furnace of the character described, an elongated casing having its top wall inclined from one end, an endless conveyor.

operating within the casing lengthwise thereof, means for supporting the upper run of the conveyor, said means dividing the interior of the casing into an upper compartment and a lower compartment communicating with each other, and heat generating means at the lower end of the casing and commumcating with the upper 4 compartment thereof.

ment and a lower compartment communicating with each other, said supporting means being inclined upwardly toward the higher end of the casing, a fire chamber at the lower end of the casing. and communicating with the upper compartment thereof,

and a stack communicating with the upper end of the casing through the top wall thereof.

7. In a furnace of the character described, an elongated casing having its top wall inclined from one end, an endless conveyor operating within the casing lengthwise thereof, means for supporting the upper run of the conveyor, said means dividing the interior of the casing into an upper compartment' and a lower compartment communicating with each other, said. supporting means being inclined upwardly toward the higher end of the casing, fire chambers at opposite sides of the lower end of the casing and communicating with the upper compartment thereof, and a stack c-o-mmunicating with the upper end of the casing through the top wall thereof.

-- 8. In a furnace of the character described,

an elongated casing having its top wall in-' clined from one end, an endless conveyor operating within the casing and having its upper run disposed substantially parallel with and adjacent the top wall of sald casing, the upper run of the conveyor traveling toward the higherend of the casing, heat generating means communicating with the casing adjacent the lower end of the top wall there of, and means for establishing communication between the interior of the-casing adjacent the other end thereof and the atmosphere.

9. In a furnace of the character described,

an elongated casing having its top wall inclined from one end, an endless conveyor operating within the casing and having its upper run disposed substantially parallel with and adjacent the top wall of said casing, the upper run of the conveyor travelingtoward the higher end of the casing, heat generating'means communicating with the casing adjacent the lower end of the top wallthereof and above the conveyor, and means for establishing communication between the interion of the casing adjacent the other end thereof and the atmosphere.

- ing its upper run disposed substantially parallel with and adjacent the top wall of said casing, the upper run of the conveyor traveling toward the higher end of-the casing,

10 heat generating means communicating with p the casing adjacent the lower end of the top wall thereof and above the conveyor, a stack communicating with the casing adjacent the higher end thereof and above the conveyor, and a bafiie extending across the casing from the top wall thereof and positioned adjacent and beyond the stack.

7 In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- JOHN J. JONES. 

